Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ IN THE WIND By Papa Wealey Ya maha enduro a nd har e scra m bles rid er Jeff Russell. " David 's go t a Yamaha YZ250WR a nd he goes rea ll y good o n th e mot ocro ss track th a t we practice o n near h is hom e," said . Russell. "He has a littl e p robl em riding th rough th e trees, th ough." e American Suzuki a nd Vic Olesen have a n nounce d tha t VO&P's p ublic rel a tio n s representati on o f Team Suzu ki wi ll be co ncl uding as o f Jul y 1. Cit in g bu dgeta ry cha nges a nd the decision to co nso lida te their raci ngrelat ed a nd more gene ra l PR acti vities in to one accou nt; Suzuki's Marketing Director Mark Blackwell sai d, " We ap p recia te th e ent h us ias m a nd hard wo rk Stua rt (Ro wla nds) a nd Doug (Sto kes) have co nt rib u ted to o ur PR effort ." . Former Nat ional Endu ro Champion Kevin H ines is head in g to Pa ijanne, Finland. to com pe te in a n internatio na l th ree-da y end u ro . Ma rch 30 Ap ril I . The end u ro begin s with a 43mile loop on Friday a t 5 p.m.; it will resu me th e next morning with a 292mile loo p beginn in g a t 6 a.m. a nd ending a t 7 p.m. T he end uro will conclude on Su nda y with a 192-mi le rid e beginning at 5 p.m. a nd end ing a t3 a. m.. Hines will rid e a KTM 250E/ XC in the even t. So u thern Cal iforn ia 's Carlsbad Raceway a nd Perris Racewa y wi ll once again host the P e rris vs. Carlsbad MX S e rie s th at was in itia ted last year and sa w the G FI-Perris racers to p th e Racin g Enterp rises-Ca rl sbad cre w. T he four-round series wi ll ta ke p lace o n co ns ec u tive Sa turda ys, ge ll in g. ucker Acq uis ition , Inc. of Indian apol is, Indiana, a su bsidia ry o f Ed Tucker Distributo r, In c. of Irving, Texas , is in th e process of purchasing fin ancially troubled Malcolm Smith, In c. and the sale is expected to be cons u m ma ted o n or sho rtly after April 5. According to a notice of transfer p ursuant to California a nd Ill in oi s com merci a l codes, th e purch ase includes inv entory of all motorcycle parts a nd accessories (bicycles a nd bi cycle parts are not included), fixed assets, sho p eq uip me nt a nd tools, office furniture a nd equipment. all trade names a nd trad em arks including the tradem arks " Ma lco lm Smith" a nd "Hi-Paint," and the cor pora te name " Ma lco lm Sm ith." The sale price has not been fixed but will co nsi st o f an amount to be determined based u pon values o f certa in inventories. book values o f certa in tangible properties. the face value of the acco u n ts receivable. p lu s $600.000. Accordi ng to th e a n nou nce me n t o f th e pending sal e. it is being made " in a n effort to pay existing debts" o f Malc olm Smith. In c., debts that total over $4 m ill io n. The list of cred itors is len gthy a nd amounts du e include: $1,615,000 owed to First Interstat e Bank . $299.865.45 to Alpine Stars, $162.045.92 to Yoko , $ 146,425.26 to Answ er Products. $139,155.01 to Acerbis , $1 12.265.79 to Hi -Torque P ub licat io ns, a nd $108,884.47 to Daysta r In c. Also on the list is the firm's founder, Malcol m Smi th . wh o so ld th e co m pany to Trans-Pacifi c several years ago. Accord ing to th e creditor list. Smith is owed $29,125. The Suzuki MX team wi ll be a t Goodtimes Kaw asak i/Su zu ki in Sacramento, Ca liforn ia , to sig n autogra p hs a nd ben ch race with th ei r fans fro m 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. o n T h ursda y. Mar ch 29, in co nju nc tio n w ith that weekend' s H angtown Na tio na l MX. When Hines arr ives in Fin land. he'll be j oined b y eig h t-tim e Na ti onal End uro Ch ampion D ick Burle s o n , wh o is cu rre nt ly in Vasteras, Swede n, stud ying · th e terrain where the 1990 Internat ional Six Days Enduro wi ll be held , Sep tem ber 3-8. Burl eson will be a specta tor a t th e enduro in Finl and. Tuck to buy Malcolm Smith, Inc. erset T underw a y a t Ca rlsbad o n April 7 a rid th en alterna ting back and forth with Perr is, where the final e and a wa rds ceremo ny will be held o n April 28. For mer MX GP contesta n t Rodne y Smith has returned to th e U.S. a nd will co m pe te in th e Nationa l Championsh ip 125cc MX Seri es. Smith, who fin ish ed third in th e 1988 250cc World Cha mp io nsh ip MX Seri es and slid back to seven th last yea r, had p lanned to sw itch to th e 125cc clas s in 1990 but all p roposed deal s fell th rough. FMF , Race T ech , Dublin Kawasaki and Yo ko will p ro vide backing for Sm ith's ca m paig n in Am eri ca. Motorcyclists unite for Earth Day_ E art h Da y. April 22, has tradi tion all y been a day for en viro n me nta lists to show th eir co nce rn for th e plan et. a nd thi s yea r the AMA is as king mot orcycli sts to do the sa me. . The AMA is encouraging clubs across the nati on to pla n spec ia l projects to co incide with Eart h Day. Clubs p la n ni n g Earth Da y activit ies ca n co n tac t th e AMA (6 14/ 89 1-2425 ) fo r a comp le te Eart h Da y inf o rm a tion packe t wh ich includes suggested activi ties, a sample p ress release for clubs to pu bl icize th eir event s, AMA Ea rt h Day sti ckers a nd a p roject rep ort. Street rid ers a nd o ff-roaders will ha ve man y d ifferent ways to get invo lved. City Bike, a Sa n Fra ncisco-based mo nt h ly mo torcycle newspa per, has la u nch ed a ca mpaig n as ki ng mo to rcycl ists to ride thei r bikes to wo rk o n Friday, Ap ri l 20, in a mass .demo nstra tio n o f fuel -efficient , ene rgy-co nserving transp orta tion . T h is will a lso go a lon g way in op po sitio n to Califo rn ia's pendi ng la ne sp litting leg ista rion by showing th a t motorcycles ease traffic co ngestio n. O n the o ff-road fro nt , AMA District 37 (213/ 438-6527) a nd CO R VA (714/ 546-609 1) are spo nso rin g a desert clean- up a t th e J ohnson Vall ey O H V a rea in L ucerne, Cal ifo rn ia, Apri l 2 1-22. Workers sho u ld br in g g loves, wo rkboo ts a nd hat s; tras h bags w ill be p rovided by America n H onda a nd Ca ITra ns. Mi ke Stu bblefield (805/ 988-0339) a nd Jim a nd Rob yn Revley of the Son gdog Ran ch (8051766-2454) a re coor d ina ting a sim ila r cleanup a t th e Ball in ger Ca n yon O HV Area: in th e New Cu yama Vall ey on Ap ril 22. . In recognitio n o f Earth Day. th e SVIA (714/ 727-3727) is p la n n ing to spo nso r four sta te a nd reg io nal o ff-h ighw ay veh icle land man agem ent workshops thi s su m mer a nd fa ll: T he sem ina rs. to be be held in Co lorado, Main e, Mich igan a nd West Virg inia , w ill ed ucate p ro fessiona l land managers from go vern me nt age nc ies o n trail co ns truc tio n tech n iques a nd OHV facil ities pl an n ing. By participating, off-ro ad ers wi ll bett er understand th e co ncern s land man agers face in bal anci ng th e needs o f mot ori zed recreati on with resource p rot ectio n. First-year P ro-Am flat tra cker Mark Fillmore . 34, o f O sag e Cit y, Ka nsas. was kill ed earl y Thursda y. Mar ch 8. wh en th e van he was riding in crashed in to a disabl ed trac tor -tra iler tru ck th at was parked o n th e sho u lder o f 1-95 nea r ' St. Augu stine. Florid a. Mark's brother. H arley Fillmore, 39, a nd Gar y La ws, 34, were also kill ed in th e ac cide nt. Because th ere were no skid marks, Fl o r id a H ighwa y P at rol tr ooper s believe th at th e driver of th e van fell asleep. Fillmo re had co m pe ted in th e Pro- Am /Junior short track a t Daytona Municipal Stad ium just hours before th e accident a nd was head ed back to Kan sas, wh ere he owned a nd o pera ted Fillmore Suzuki/Kawasaki in Os age City, and T opeka T our & Trail in T opeka. Fillmore is su rvived by hi s wife, Debr a, his parents, three brothers, a nd a gra ndmo the r. Servi ces were held in O sage City on Mar ch 12.. Accord ing to Yamaha 's MX race team m an ag er Ke i th McC any, Damon Brad shaw had his injured foot put into a cast abou t a week prior to the Rose Bowl Su percross. " It turns o ut that Damon broke a sma ll bon e in his foot (a t th e Sa n Diego Supercross , February 10) a nd none of th e previous x-ra ys sh owed it ," said McCarty. " After di scovering th e broken bon e. the doctors said he needed to immobilize the foo t for a t least 10 days. We expect th e cast to be rem oved on Thursda y (Ma rch 29), a nd tha t he'll be able to rid e th e Hangtown National 250cc MX in Sacram ento (Ap ril I ). " . T e levision cover age of th e 1990 Ca mel Su percross Series will air on cable sports netw ork ESPN beginning April 5. a t 9:00 p.m. Pacific tim e. The o ne-ho ur p rogram will run weekly th rough Jul y. Ch eck yo u r local listings for th e exac t tim es a nd cha n ne ls in yo u r a rea. T eam H onda' s multi-time Nationa l MX a nd Su percro ss Cha mp ion Ric k Johnson plans to rid e th e April I AMA Na tional Ch ampionsh ip 250cc MX in Sacram ento. California. according to pers on al manager Dave Steven son . Johnson has been sid elined sin ce he broke hi s fin ger a t th e March 10 Dayton a Supercross. " He isn ' t co m pl etely healed. but he's better. " says Stevenson . J ohnson won th e ope n ing National 250cc MX in Gainesville. Florida. a nd hopes to pi ck up eno ugh points at Hangtown to stay in the ru n n ing for th e 250cc title. Russ Whittinghill o f Louisville, Kentu cky, says th e clos e st Daytona 200 finish didn ' t occ u r in this yea r' s running o f th e prestigiou s road race. as we reported. " T he clos est fini sh was in th e 1962 ra ce wh en Don Burnett, o n a Triumph. beat Dick Mann. on .-------------------------------------------------------------------.I i SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM . . I Name Address _ City State Order Date Zip _ Sig nature _ . . O.ne year (SO ISS~es). 2nd class Ca na da o r Mex ICO and a ll ot her foreign coun mes $75.00 (U.S. lunds ). 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